Looking at Muhlenberg College's football statistics from 2013, the Mules certainly gave the impression of a championship team.

Muhlenberg outscored its foes by almost 20 points a game, outgained its foes by 115 yards, enjoyed a plus-7 turnover margin and converted 47 percent of third down situations while allowing just 31.7 percent defensively.

That could well have easily added up to coach Mike Donnelly's eighth Centennial Conference title in his 17-season run, but somehow the Mules wound up second in the league at 7-2 and finished 8-3 overall, missing the NCAA Division III tournament for the third straight season.

"We didn't win two games against two very good football teams (Franklin & Marshall and Johns Hopkins)," said Donnelly, who noted that Hopkins is 29-1 over the last three seasons. "But after the Hopkins game the kids got better. We were hitting on all cylinders at the end of the year."

Saucon Valley graduate Ian Gimbar, the Mules' all-conference first team senior outside linebacker and a four-year starter, said the team needs to be more consistent on the field.

"We need better consistency, every play, every day," he said. "We need to do our job every play on the field, and if we do that we'll be fine. I like to say success is a byproduct of doing things right."

Preseason Division III pollsters agree the Mules look like an elite team with The Sporting News putting them 18th and Lindy's 19th.

"We're as excited as we can be," Donnelly said. "We've had a lot of people work very hard and we had a phenomenal offseason. We test the kids here hard on the first day of (fall camp), and they killed the test."

Junior wide receiver Mike Harris, a Liberty graduate who caught 31 passes for 363 yards and ran for two more scores last fall, said the team's attitude couldn't be better.

"We really came together as a unit last year and we're coming into this season much more confident," Harris said. "We're a year older now and we really feel comfortable working with each other."

Donnelly said the team needs to "establish" the tailback spot, where he is happy with the incoming freshmen. The coach said the Mules must also improve the depth, work on the nickel and dime pass coverage packages and get faster play from his two inside linebackers.

One spot he has no concern is quarterback, where sophomore Nick Palladino, thrown into the fire in just his second game as a freshman after an injury, completed 166 of 274 pass attempts for 2,011 yards and 14 touchdowns en route to being named the conference rookie of the year.

"He's ready to go," Donnelly said. "He came in here and clean-lifted 300 pounds, the most we'd let him, and that sends a message that 'I worked really hard this summer.' He's not short of confidence and he has a ton of moxie."